Tony (The Former Ogre) asks:
 
> Who has Kris Hanson of St. John's Prep.?  Hanson has passed BU-bound Mike
> Sylvia in scoring in the Catholic Conference and now has 20-11-31 in 9 games.
> (Sylvia has 10-19-29 in 10 games)  He is the obvious star of the 3rd ranked
> team in EMass High School hockey.
 
A recent article that I believe was in the Globe indicated that Hanson is
intending to go to "some school in Hockey East."  It didn't seem as though
the choice of which one had been made yet.  I've watched Hanson on an
irregular basis (its tough to keep up with youth, high school, college, AND
pro hockey, though it's fun to try).  At the high school level he is a terrific
player.  In last year's playoffs he was clearly the best kid on the ice in
SJP games.  His problem, according to the article, is that he was about 5' 8"
as a freshman and that now as a senior he's still 5' 8".  This has caused some
schools to cool their interest.  I believe (I'm doing this from memory of the
article now) that the schools that had expressed interest in Hanson were
Merrimack, Northeastern, and UNH.  I may have missed one.  I'm sure that UMass-
Lowell was not listed in the article (which is not to say that they DON'T have
interest), and I'm quite sure that BU and Maine were not either.
 
Frankly, I think he can play Division I.  His college career COULD parallel
that of Shane Henry of UMass-Lowell fame.  Shane is a smaller player who was
not a world-beater his first two years.  He really came on in his junior year
after adding more strength and has continued to play well as a senior.  I
don't see Hanson doing in his freshman year what a Bullock or other top
freshman have.  But I can't understand the scarcity of interest.  Of course you
can't have a team of ALL midgets, you do need some size.  But players like Henry
or Chad Quenville (Providence) are very effective at using their speed advantage
over bigger players.  Heck, a LOT of last year's Maine team was small in
stature but big on speed and skill.
 
Hanson does have very good speed to compensate for the lack of size, although
it's tough to gauge how that speed would match up against college players.
It's a lot easier to look fast in high school.  (I guess I'm saying that as
a scout, my record has been spotty.)  I'll make one more analogy.
I see Hanson as being a lot like Tim Regan, who had a great career at Catholic
Memorial, and is now a sophomore at RPI.
 
*****************************************************        ,-******-,
* Dave Hendrickson "Robo" [log in to unmask] *     *'     ##     '*
*        A Hockey Polygamist and Get-A-Lifer        *   *##   ___##___   ##*
* GO BROONS!!!      Go Red Wings!!     Go LA Kings! *  *   ##|   ___  \##   *
* GO UMASS-LOWELL!!!    Go Maine!!           Go BU! * *      |  |___)  |     *
* --------------------------------------------------* *######|   ___  <######*
* Although I can't remember ever having an original * *      |  |___)  |     *
* thought, and am certainly parroting someone who   *  *   ##|________/##   *
* actually has a brain, these opinions are mine,    *   *##      ##      ##*
* not Hewlett-Packard's.                            *     *,     ##     ,*
*****************************************************        '-*******-'